Sicilian Vespers

The Sicilian Vespers (Italian: Vespri siciliani; Sicilian: Vespiri siciliani) is the name given to the successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out on the Easter of 1282 against the rule of the French-born king Charles I, who had ruled the Kingdom of Sicily since 1266. Within six weeks, three thousand French men and women were slain by the rebels, and the government of King Charles lost control of the island. It was the beginning of the War of the Sicilian Vespers.

Background

The Papacy versus the House of Hohenstaufen

The rising had its origin in the struggle between the House of Hohenstaufen, which in the 13th century ruled Germany and claimed nominal authority over most of northern Italy, and the papacy, for control over Italy, especially the Church's private demesne known as the Papal States. The Papal States lay between Hohenstaufen lands in northern Italy and the Hohenstaufen Kingdom of Sicily in the south. In 1245 Pope Innocent IV even declared the emperor Frederick II deposed and roused opposition to him in Germany and Italy. When Frederick died in 1250, his dominion was inherited by his son, Conrad. A period of turmoil followed Conrad's death in 1254, and control of the Kingdom of Sicily was seized by Manfred, Frederick's natural son, who reigned from 1258 to 1266.

Les vêpres siciliennes

Les vêpres siciliennes (The Sicilian Vespers) is a grand opéra in five acts by the Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi set to a French libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier from their work Le duc d'Albe, which was written in 1838. Les vêpres followed immediately after Verdi's three great mid-career masterpieces, Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata of 1850 to 1853 and was first performed at the Paris Opéra on 13 June 1855.

Today it is better-known in its post-1861 Italian version as I vespri siciliani and it is occasionally performed. The story is based on a historical event, the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, using material drawn from the medieval Sicilian tract Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia.

Composition history

After Verdi's first grand opera for the Paris Opéra—that being his adaptation of I Lombardi in 1847 given under the title of Jérusalem - the composer had wanted to write a completely new grand opera for the company, the appeal being the same as that which influenced all Italian composers of the day: the challenges of a form different from that of their homeland and the ability to appeal to an audience which welcomed novelty.